Murdoch Buys A Big Problem

BASEBALL

BOSTON — As the Dodgers played their home opener Tuesday, Baseball Past and Baseball Future sat side by side.

New Dodgers owner Rupert Murdoch watched his new team with former owner Peter O'Malley. Murdoch kept a low profile, slipping in and out of Dodger Stadium without speaking to the media.

Murdoch did not talk about his new $310 million toy. He did not comment on a 9-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, or the most unsettling problem facing the Dodgers -- the gulf between the franchise and its best player.

Did Murdoch understand the ramifications of 52,424 booing Mike Piazza each time he stepped to the plate? Dodgers president Bob Graziano said Murdoch is a quick study and grasped the dynamics.

Good thing, because Murdoch has bought his way into an ugly situation. Piazza, one of the best offensive players in the game, is seeking a $100 million contract. His agent, Dan Lozano, rejected a six-year contract that may have been worth as much as $81 million, and Piazza is moping.

Should a 29-year-old catcher with bad knees be the highest-paid player in the game? The notion that Piazza may earn $100 million may best explain why Murdoch and his Fox empire own the Dodgers and the O'Malley family does not.

The Dodgers are willing to make Piazza the top-paid player, but Lozano is attempting to set a new standard. Piazza is an elite offensive player, but he is a below-average defensive catcher and isn't far from being a first baseman/DH.

So if Piazza earns $15 million a season, how much is Ken Griffey Jr. or Barry Bonds worth?

That's why the future of the game is Murdoch, whose company brings cross-promotion and marketing possibilities. If salaries continue to soar -- and there is no reason to think they won't -- the game needs all the revenue sources it can get. Companies such as Fox and Walt Disney Co. will provide both.

But deep pockets also will be a requirement. If and when Murdoch reaches an agreement with Piazza, we'll see why this is no longer a game for mom and pop owners.

Lesson Learned?

Wilfredo Cordero was apologetic before playing his first game for Double A Birmingham. Cordero, who could join the White Sox this week, promised to not embarrass the White Sox and their fans.

``I learned my lesson,'' he said.

Maybe, but he denied reports of earlier abuse against a former girlfriend and his first wife. He also blamed the media for overplaying a December incident in which his current wife,Ana Cordero,called police in Puerto Rico.

``Wil Cordero is not the person that the media puts out there,'' Cordero said.

The Corderos are attempting to reconcile after they separated over the winter. While they have agreed to joint counseling, the promises may be hollow. Cordero did not attend all his mandatory counseling sessions last summer and seemed uninterested in the process.

Another concern: White Sox team counselor Jose Goyos has no experience in domestic violence. Cordero will benefit by having Jerry Manuel as his manager. Manuel managed Cordero in the Expos' minor league organization and has known him 10 years.

Tough Crowd

When things are bad, there is no nastier group of fans than in Philadelphia. So when the Phillies allowed consecutive fifth-inning homers to the Marlins on Opening Day, plastic schedules -- the giveaway of the day -- --were hurled by the 41,158 at Veterans Stadium. The game was delayed as the outfield was cleared. But the schedules were the least-harmful objects chucked. ``That was a war zone,'' Marlins outfielder Mark Kotsay said. ``I almost got hit by a couple of dimes and I was almost hit by a half-filled bottle of Pepsi and Mountain Dew. At one point, there was a shoe out there.'' . . . Imagine how the Philadelphia crowd will react when unsigned 1997 draftee J.D. Drew plays his first game at the Vet, especially if he's not wearing a Phillies uniform? And it appears more and more likely Drew will never play for the Phillies. After rejecting a package that could be worth $6 million -- including a record $2 million signing bonus -- Drew and his agent, Scott Boras, came back with a counterproposal: an $11 million package that starts with a $5 million signing bonus. The Phillies hold his rights until May 26, but it appears he will not sign. Phillies players, including closer RickyBottalico,have been critical of Drew. . . . Maybe all Aaron Sele needed was a change of scenery. In his first two starts with the Rangers, Sele has a 1.29 ERA. He pitched the first shutout of his career with an 11- 0 victory over the White Sox. The most astonishing part of the victory? Sele pitching nine innings. With the Red Sox, he was conditioned to pitch six. But before Red Sox fans lament the loss of the former first-round draft choice, remember that both his starts were against the White Sox, and the Rangers supported him with 31 runs.